A Vampire and Her Princess
by aidyr
Summary: Marceline had really and truly thought she'd lost Bubblegum during the battle against Golb. Upon waking from a nightmare, PB is there to hold her and promise her that she's fine and not going anywhere. - Also published on AO3 -


The springs creaked loudly in the dark silence of the room as a sharp intake of air marked the end of Marceline's dream. The hammering of her racing heart and the cold sweat dampening the sheets were thoroughly unpleasant, but neither compared to the cause of the vampire's sudden awakening. The images still flashed through her mind, the contents of her dream remaining unforgotten even once she'd awoken. It was only in a sad attempt to calm herself with deep inhales and quiet mutterings under her breath that the stirring body next to her reminded her she wasn't alone.

"Hey Marcy, you okay?" Even sounding entirely sleep deprived, Bonnibel managed to keep a certain comforting energy in her tone. The princess had finely honed her motherly warmth through years of consoling and soothing fragile and panicky candy people.

Marceline pinched the bridge of her nose and squinted her eyes, futilely attempting to rid her mind of the graphic imagery her recent nightmare had been oh-so-very happy to ruin her night with. "Y-yeah just… a bad dream I guess."

Worrying PB was the last thing Marceline wanted to do. The past week had been crazy and full of adjustment. After the nearly-a-war and the intense battle against the large and intimidating entity Simon and Normal Man had referred to as 'Golb', everyone deserved some time to chill—no scratch that, everyone deserved a literal eternity to chill. The last thing Bubblegum needed to was lose sleep over someone else's stupid, childish nightmares.

"That's bull Marceline, now tell me what's up."

Damn it. Okay so apparently PB _did_ intend to worry herself over a dream.

"It's silly, really. You can go back to sleep I'm fine-"

Bonnibel made quick work shutting Marceline up, a firm hand was placed over the vampire's mouth. "Good Glob Marceline, now you listen to me, alright…?" When Bubblegum took her hand away, Marceline heeded her instructions and silenced herself in favor of fixing Bubblegum with an incredulous stare. "I didn't force myself to stop being a stubborn jerk so we could get close again, only for you to not talk to me when something's wrong. If it was just a bad dream and you don't wanna talk, that's fine, you're a big girl. But even as dark as this room is, I can tell you look like you've just witnessed murder."

At this, Marceline flinched. Her body tensed at the memory, both of her dream and of the real-world happening that had spawned said dream. It played on repeat in her mind, torturing her like a broken record repeating one's worst fear.

She'd really and truly believed, she'd lost Bonnibel.

What separated her dream from reality though, was that PB was there next to her now. Living and breathing in all her beautiful, funny, intelligent, and literally sweet glory. In the nightmare, all the fear she felt in the moment hadn't been for naught, and Bubblegum was really gone; crushed by Golb's disgusting creation, an amalgamation of those so unfortunate as to be touched by his death.

"Marceline…?"

"You remember during the battle? Right after you… when I went all super-vamp on that asswhipe monster thing?" … "Rhetorical question, I know you do. I was… I dreamt about that."

The quiet that followed was more incredibly nerve-wracking than it had any right to be. That is, until a soft, delightfully adorable laugh broke the tension. PB's laugh was the sound of harps and an angel's choir, and it always without fail sent butterflies in waves to Marceline's stomach.

"Funny, I was dreaming about that too."

Shit, now Marceline was just confused. For one, the level of coincidence there was absurd and secondly, there's no way such a pretty and carefree laugh could come from someone who'd just shared in Marceline's terrible nightmare.

"I can see you're confused," Bubblegum continued. "I think I know what part you dreamt about. But I was dreaming about what happened after."

What happened after…?

Oh.

 _Oh._

It was far easier to fluster Marceline than she would've ever cared to admit. After all, she had a badass punk-rock image to uphold. And someone who got all blushy and nervous at the prospect of kissing a loved one was decidedly un-punk. Especially given that the two were officially an item again. After years and years of being stubborn and needlessly rude (after all, releasing wolves into a girl's bedroom isn't usually the best way to go about courting her,) they'd finally worked their relationship back up to this point.

Which made the cruel images of Bonnibel's violent demise all the more difficult to ignore.

"O-oh, yeah?" Marceline cursed her inability to not sound like a love-stricken middle schooler.

Bubblegum hummed in response, wrapping her arms around Marceline's waist and pulling the distressed undead closer to her warm, sugary body. "It was one of the softest, sweetest kisses I've ever had. Truly one of your better ones. I can tell I really freaked you out getting smashed by that dill-weed, yeah?"

"You could say that…"

Bubblegum ran her fingers through Marceline's long, jet-black hair. It was something she used to do all the time before their initial rift; she had always said it was soft and soothing to the touch. And it helped to calm Marcy down as well, as it felt nice having someone caressing and gently loving you. "Good thing I'm okay then, right? I'm glad I am too, otherwise I wouldn't be able to do this~"

PB lifted Marceline's chin with a little push, and got the vampire to look up into her eyes. Then, with a soft smile, she leaned forward and pressed their lips together once more. Just like that, the horrid mental images of Bubblegum being crushed, and the sound of her voice crying out right before were replaced by the feeling of soft, warm, and skilled lips. She closed her eyes and focused on her love's breathing, taking immense solace in feeling PB's body near and against her own. Their kiss lasted several seconds, before regrettably, they needed to part for air.

It was dark, but they could see each other's glowing faces almost perfectly under the illumination of the moon's careful light.

"I… really missed you, Bonnie. While we weren't talking I mean. This is really nice…" Marceline admitted wistfully, bringing a finger up to stroke her princess's light pink cheek. "Please don't ever almost get crushed by a hideous monster again. I don't know what I'd do if I lost you for good."

"Go super-vamp and destroy our foes?" Bubblegum giggled, leaning forward to briefly kiss the tip of Marceline's nose.

"Well of course. Nobody lays a finger of you and gets away with it."

"I'll promise not to let anything happen to me if you promise the same. I… I really missed you too."

At this, Marceline smiled. The remnants of her dream were fading to nothingness and Bonnibel was right in front of her, alive and just as wonderful as ever.

"Yes. Of course."

(***)

The two continued to talk until soon enough PB had said her tiredness was creeping up on her. With one last late-night kiss shared between them, they both closed their eyes and allowed themselves to drift. Marceline fell asleep in the arms of her beloved princess, and with a peaceful grin stretching across her face. No longer did she dream of what might have been, only of what is and what the future had in store.

Which was of course, was many more lovely nights spent cuddling, talking, laughing, joking, kissing and loving Princess Bonnibel Bubblegum.


End file.
